


Flowing Waters

by theodoodle



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 1940s, Angel/Human Relationships, Crazy Castiel, Creepy, Gay, Hospitals, M/M, Psychiatrist Dean Winchester, Violent Dean, insane asylum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-04-04 23:15:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14030970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theodoodle/pseuds/theodoodle
Summary: Set in the 1940s, Castiel Novak is sent to a corrupt mental institution after a traumatizing near death experience. It’s in the asylum that he meets a man named Dean Winchester, who helps Castiel plan a great escape. It’s through their journey that they begin to fall in love.





	1. Shattered Glass

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I’ve never written a Destiel fic before, even though it’s my favorite ship. Here’s my attempt at it. Please feel free to point out any mistakes or hard to read parts!

The lake was especially beautiful today. It gave off an aura of peace, though the feeling dissipated when I heard a shout of excitement. I looked up in time to watch one of the imbeciles I called ‘friend’ hit the surface of the ominous water below him. The afternoon light that had been dancing on it seemed to scatter away from the impact.

  
My trance was interrupted when someone gave my shoulder a rough shove. I turned my head, giving Danny an annoyed glare, hoping it would dispirit him from further conversation. Sadly, it didn't work, so I let out a huff and listened to what he had to say.

  
“Hey Castiel, we found a cliff off of Holly Bay and we need someone to test it out for us. Just to see if it’s safe, you know?” he said, revealing his stupid grin that I was just longing to smack off.

  
“I think I’m good, thanks. I’ve never been one for heights.” I replied. I wasn’t really afraid of heights, though. I was actually quite fond of them. I turned back around, expecting my decline to end our short lived conversation.

  
Instead of leaving me be, Danny shouted right next to my head, making me cringe. “Hey guys, he’s gonna do it! Get over here!” This confused me. I clearly remembered saying no.

I looked at him, head cocked and eyes squinted in confusion, “I never said that,” I stated loudly, though he ignored me. “Hey, Danny. Are you even listening to me?” panic laced my words as he and four other boys began to gather around me, grabbing at my limbs.

  
“What are you guys doing? I said no!” I yelled. I started squirming around, kicking out my legs and tugging my arms. They were stronger than me though, and I couldn't break free.  
I gave up eventually, my arms had grown too tired to continue fighting. Besides, I might as well not struggle, my fate was set in stone. There was no getting out of this.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, they threw me on the rough dirt. I felt small rocks digging into my back and grunted in pain.

  
“Wakey wakey, Castiel. Time to jump!” Said a boy named Kyle, he began to laugh. The obnoxious sound caused the other boys to join in. Anger and frustration coursed through my veins. I would make them regret this someday.

  
“Get up you baby, it’s only a little drop,” one of them delivered a soft kick to my side after speaking, though it didn’t hurt, it still sent a rush of anger through my body. I clenched my teeth and pushed myself off of the rough earth, dusting myself off and crossing my arms once I did so.

  
“That’s my boy!” yelled Danny, clapping his hands like an ignorant seal.

  
The look suited him, I had to admit.

  
Someone gave my sore shoulder blade a clap, as if it were supposed to fill me with enough enthusiasm to jump off of a cliff and fall twenty feet into unexplored water.

  
I looked up at the sky. It was an opal blue and was void of clouds. Though this situation was an ugly one, the sky remained alluring. I sent a silent prayer to the azure image and slowly stepped up to the brink of the cliff. My dirty toes curled over the edge and I looked down.  
The dark water sat so calm and pristine that it looked as if it were a large pane of glass. No light penetrated into its surface, meaning there could be a tree or a rock and I would have no way of knowing. That is unless I jumped.

  
I took a step back, deciding I couldn’t do this.

  
“I don’t think so, Castiel.” announced Kyle in a sing song tone. He then advanced towards me, pushing me back to the cliffs edge.

  
“Stop, we don’t know what’s down there! I could die you idiot!” I blurted out in frustration. I was on the verge of having a panic attack, but I would never let these dirtbags know that.

  
This didn’t stop him and he continued his assault. “Now jump, or I’ll make you.” he said, his voice was low and no longer amused, it was instead full of impatience and irritation. “As if you’re not making me already,” I mumbled under my breath. Danny truly was senseless.

  
I decided that I would rather jump to my own death than to let him have the satisfaction of pushing me.

  
“Get your nasty hands off me, you pig.” I spat, elbowing him in the stomach. I took a step back and before I could talk myself out of it, I plunged forward and leaped off the cliffs edge.

Once my feet left the ground, all of my previous fear dissipated. I didn’t feel anything, really. That is until my body smacked against the water. Not only did the water look like glass, it felt like glass too.

  
I quickly sunk down into the deep abyss.

It was cold, yet felt soothing on my stinging skin. Once I stopped my descent, I forced my eyelids apart. Strange, I could see perfectly fine when minutes ago the water looked impenetrable. I assumed my eyes had previously deceived me and let the thought pass through my head.

  
I was about to start swimming up when something soft grazed my shoulder blade. I spun around as fast as the water would allow me. There was nothing there.

  
I turned back around, which was totally a mistake. A person gracefully floated before me, except it wasn’t really a person. The humanoid creature had no arms passed its elbows, the rest had been replaced with what looked like flowing silk. It's eyes were a dark green, each one looked like a smaller version of the lake.

  
It was devoid of hair and ears. Looking down, I noted that it also didn't have legs. This creature was missing a lot of things, I decided. Instead of legs, it had a large tail, but it wasn't beautiful and flowing like it's arms, it was torn and old, like it had been made out of an abandoned fish net and mud.

  
The overall color scheme of the thing was green; a dark, natural green that matched it’s eyes. It was like nature had thrown up and called it a color.

  
I realized that while I had been distracted by the creature, my lungs had been depleted of oxygen. I swam as fast as my long legs would take me until I broke the surface and began desperately gasping for air. The ugly sound of my wheezing echoed off of the cliff side.

  
The thought of that thing being underneath me freaked me out, so I splashed to the tree line in a panicked state. I looked up to see if the guys were still up on the rock and was slightly relieved to find they were gone.

  
The thing about the creature was, though it scared me, I wanted to eternally graze my eyes over its form, I wanted to study it.  
My curiosity outweighed my fear and I hesitantly crept to the water's edge, peering at it.

At first, all I saw was my reflection. My ocean blue eyes stared back at me, contrasting the murky green of the lake. I looked terrible with my dark hair slicked down against my forehead.

  
Then I saw it. The monster was only there for a second before it disappeared, but it was enough to send a wave of excitement through me. I had to see it again.

  
I clumsily plunged into the knee deep water and began slashing around, trying to attract the creatures attention. I heard a splash somewhere in front of me and looked up in time to see it's strange tail emerge from under the ominous surface.

  
I ran out further, this time standing still. I didn't want to scare it off before I got another good look at it.

  
I stood there, waist deep in the cold water, for about five minutes before deciding I should head back and trick the creature into thinking I was gone. I wasn’t even sure how intelligent this thing was.

  
Just as I turned, my foot caught on something slimy and I fell, causing a mighty splash to erupt from water.

  
Something bit down on my shoulder, digging its teeth into my flesh. I let out a scream but the only thing that left my mouth was a spurt of bubbles. I turned my head, the creature had its jaw clenched down and blood was seeping out of my wound.

  
I began to run out of breath in my panic. I gasped and water filled my lungs. Just like earlier, I grew too weak to fight and let darkness take over as the monster tore into my flesh.

  
I had wanted to look at the creature, and now it was the last thing I saw before I blacked out.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions as to how my story could be improved, feel free to leave a comment down below or contact me via my Twitter (@theodoodle).


	2. Penicillin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel wakes up in a hospital, he had somehow survived the attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I know this chapter is very short, but I found a good place to leave off. I should be uploading again in the next week or so. Feel free to leave any criticism in the comments, it's greatly appreciated. Also, if any parts don't flow well or have any type of error (such as grammatical), please point It out. Enjoy!

I could hear voices coming from somewhere. I tried to open my eyes, but I was _so_ _tired._ Instead I decided to open my mouth. I managed to mumble out a small “help.” Someone touched my arm, and the memories all started flooding back. 

 

_ The fear _

 

“No, please don’t kill me,”

 

_ The pain  _

 

“Please, just make it stop,”

 

_ The creature _

 

My eyes shot open. I jumped up as fast as I could before I realized where I was. I stood in a hospital. my mother was beside my bed, laced with shock from my sudden outburst. 

 

“Cas, what’s wrong honey?” She said in the most calming voice she could manage. 

 

I felt tears prickling at my eyes at the sight of my mother, I thought I’d never see her again. She was the only good I had in my life. My father had left us when I was thirteen. My mother tells me it’s because of financial reasons, but I know it was my fault. He departed three days after I came out as queer, but not before giving me a solid punch to the nose. It’s still crooked five years later.

 

Being queer was the worst crime you could commit against God, apparently.

 

I ran to my mom and held her in my sore arms. “Oh my God, I thought I would never see you again.” I whispered. I didn’t think I could manage to fully talk without bursting out into sobs.

 

“I’m here now, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help you,” She replied, she was also crying. I knew she felt guilty, and that made me feel a deep pain in my chest.

 

It was then I realized the pain in my shoulder. I had to sit down on one of the many hospital beds before I fainted. My mother called for a nurse so they could replace the IV I had ripped out in my struggle.

 

* * *

 

 

A few penicillin pills later, and I was back in one of the beds. This time three police officers surrounded my bed.

 

“Now son, we need you to tell us what attacked you.” One of them said. He looked like he had the most authority out of all of them. 

 

“I… I don’t know.” I replied. I knew I couldn’t tell them the truth unless I wanted to be locked up with all the crazies in the Trillium Center. The many rumors I’ve heard of what goes down there are not something I’d want to experience first hand. A man they called “Charming Billy” once told me that a woman at the center ate off her own arm after not being fed for weeks on end. He wasn’t as charming as people made him out to be.

 

“You don’t remember anything?” One officer said, I could tell he knew the truth.

 

“I can’t tell you, everyone will think I’m crazy.” I replied bitterly. Maybe I could tell them part of the truth? 

 

“There’s a creature in the lake. One I could only pull out of a nightmare.” I said, hesitation lacing my words. I was expecting to be tackled at any moment.

 

“Can you further explain this creature, son?”  He already looked skeptical. I had no clue how I could explain it. The thing is, if I don’t at least  _ try  _ to tell them, then someone else could get hurt by the thing that attacked me. Maybe even killed, and I don’t think I could live with that.

 

“It wasn’t human, but it wasn’t a beast either. It was something…  _ supernatural.  _ Some sort of mer creature with green eyes. I know I sound crazy, but I swear on my own life, it’s true.” I blurted out before I could convince myself otherwise. My heart was racing, and I tried to catch my breath. Ready to defend myself against anyone willing to disagree with me.

 

The officer looked at me, eyes full of confusion and pity.

 

_ Great, they all think I’m mad. _

 

This time my mother spoke up, breaking the tense silence between us. “Could you draw this monster?” She asked. her eyes were red, as if she were on the brink of tears. She knew there was nothing she could do to save me now.

 

A nurse whose name I had yet to learn handed me a clipboard and an old yellow pencil. I began to sketch out the creature with as much detail as I could recall. 

 

* * *

 

“Please, he’s just traumatized, that’s all. He isn’t crazy.” My mother pleaded with the doctor as I sat in a cold, stiff chair. 

 

I was about to start my new life at the Trillium Center.


	3. Sleeping Pill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel sneaks out of his room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be using some 1940s slang to help with the vintage vibes in this story. If you have trouble understanding what some of the sayings and/or slang means, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll be happy to assist. Also, should I list the meanings at the end of each chapter? Please let me know. Another thing, I wouldn’t usually bring up God or religion so much, but since this is the forties, most Americans were christians. I apologize if that makes anybody uncomfortable. I also apologize for once again having a short chapter. I found a good place to leave off.

  
“How do you feel, Castiel?” Dr. Winchester asked. He looked genuinely concerned, but I was sure that was the mask he put on for all his patients here. It was my second week at the Trillium Center, but it felt like I had been here for years.

I had no friends, no one to talk to except Dr. Winchester. Family can’t visit until a patient has done well enough here to be deemed stable. Seeing your own family was a reward, not a basic human right. I haven’t seen my mother since she sent me here.

When I go to hell, I imagine this is what it will be. Endless torture for the rest of eternity.

“Well, I feel like I’m about to explode.” I replied in a way that didn’t reveal too much feeling, but also let him know I was pretty frustrated with my current situation.

“What has you so ready to flip your wig?” He asked with a small, amused smirk.

I wasn’t sure how to answer that, actually. I knew I was angry, but I didn’t know who or what to project it on. I didn’t blame my mother, she was as confused and hurt as I was. She had tried her best to keep me from being sent here, but to no avail.

Maybe I was angry at God.

“Why me?” I asked, as if Dr. Winchester could surely give me the answer as to why or how I was attacked.

“Sometimes things happen to people, whether they deserve it or not.” He offered, trying to console me.

Perhaps I did deserve it. Maybe this was God’s way of punishing me for being queer. Why else would I happen to be the one in the lake at that time. Or happen to land just close enough to the creature that I triggered its attack.

Maybe it was a demon? The only place that monster could’ve derived from is straight from the fiery pits of hell.

“It’s not your fault, you know. You didn’t ask to be attacked, or ask to be put in this hospital. Hell, these people will find any excuse to throw someone in here.” He said with an annoyed frown.

I wanted to burst out in tears.

For the first time, someone genuinely thought I was sane. It felt like I had an ally in this wretched place.

“Thank you, Dr. Winchester.” I said in a half whisper. I made sure to sound genuine, I wanted him to know how much I appreciated his words.

“Call me Dean. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together, might as well be on a first name basis.” He replied, winking as he did so.

 

* * *

 

Later that day, after a very disappointing dinner, the other patients and I were lined up against the sickening white walls of the corridor that held our rooms. After my thirteen days in the Trillium Center, I’d learned most of the routines.

This was one of them. Every night at eight o'clock, each patient would be given a sleeping pill. I wasn't quite sure how strong they were, as I had never actually taken one.

"And yours, Castiel." a woman named Freda said, offering me a small white pill. I tucked it in between my cheek and gums and feigned swallowing

"Open, I need to make sure you actually swallowed it. Some of these patients aren't very eager beavers when it comes to taking their medication." She said, I felt bad for lying to her, she was one of the very few staff here with a shred of human decency. But I had to do it.

I was going to find a way out of this place.

 

* * *

 

When I got to my room, I removed the pill from my cheek and hid it underneath my pillow so I could dispose of it the next morning. I waited what felt like forever until I could be sure everyone's pill had kicked in. I couldn't risk someone seeing me and having a freakout.

My door was left unlocked due to a malfunction in the deadbolt. It’d be at least another week before they could get one in, and the administrators figured it wouldn’t be a problem since we took sleeping pills.

Little did they know.

I crept out of bed and peered through the slit in my room’s door. I could see a dim light coming from the right end of the hallway. I assumed it was for the patrol guards, and slowly pulled open the heavy metal door.

 

* * *

 

I tiptoed out of my room and decided to go towards the light. I made sure to walk as quietly as possible, I didn’t want to know what would happen to me if I was caught. Although I could definitely imagine.

I heard a noise to my left and sprinted as quietly as possible towards the light. My steps were cushioned by my cheap white socks. I hid behind the only vending machine in this hallway and covered my mouth

After a few quiet moments, I decided I was in the clear.

That was when I turned around and slammed into someone.


	4. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel and Dean make a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey school started back so I haven’t had time to write. Sorry for once again being gone so long. I’m really bad at keeping to a schedule. Anyways this chapter is short (like every chapter so far) but i’m feeling motivated so maybe we’ll get chapter five soon.

“Castiel, what are you doing out of your room? Is everything okay?” Dean said. I tried to decide which question to answer first, or if I should even answer. I couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Come on. We’re going to my office.” He said after a few silent moments. I dreaded having to tell him why I was out wandering the halls in the dead of night. He guided me down the corridor with his hand on my back. I appreciated the gesture.

When we entered the small room, Dean turned on an old, dusty lamp. It flickered on with worn determination. He then walked around his sturdy wooden desk and sat down.

“So, are you gonna tell me what you were planning to do out there?” He gave me a stern look. I could tell he was mad, but also concerned.

I didn’t answer at first, I needed time to come up with something.

“Do you have any idea what they’d do to you if someone else had found you?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I blurted dumbly. I knew he wouldn’t believe me, but I also knew I couldn’t tell him the truth. He’d report me and they’d start forcing pills down my throat.

He looked at me as if I had just informed him that I was the tooth fairy and had come to collect his loose tooth.

“Okay, I lied-”

“That much was obvious.” My confession was cut off by his reply.

“I can’t tell you the truth.” I broke eye contact and looked down at my hands.

I knew he wouldn’t stop prying until I told him.

 

* * *

 

“So you’re telling me you were trying to escape?” Dean questioned with a hint of disbelief in his deep voice.

“No, not tonight. Just scouting out exits, you know?” I said like it was no big deal that I was planning to escape a mental hospital that I was legally required to stay at.

I looked up at Dean expecting to meet his eyes, but they were pointed at the ground. He was in deep thought. It was like he was debating with his own conscious.

“Are you going to tell anyone?” I whispered. I already knew the answer, and I could feel my stomach churning at the thought of my punishment.

“No,” He stated firmly.

My head shot up. Our eyes met and I knew he was serious.

“In fact, I’m going to do the exact opposite. I’m going to help you escape.”

 

* * *

 

“What? Why?” I asked, confusion in every word that left my mouth, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful. I’m just, you know, confused.”

“I know this sounds mad,” he started.

“Trust me, nothing sounds crazy to me anymore,” I butt in.

He grinned at that and continued, “I believe you. I’ve seen the thing that attacked you with my own two eyes. I was thirteen, my little brother wanted to spend his birthday at the lake. I was looking for skipping rocks, and when I was reaching for one, I saw it. I thought I had imagined it, but it seemed so real. I couldn’t get its image out of my head. I still can’t. That’s actually why I started working here, I wanted to find someone else who had seen what I saw that day. And now here you are, and I’m not alone anymore.”

  
He poured his heart out to me, and all I could do was stare in awe.

“I knew it-”

Dean shushed me, “Not so loud, remember.”

“Sorry, I’m just so relieved. It’s so frustrating when no one believes you, and you’re just deemed as crazy.” I felt tears pricking at my eyes, I was so relieved,

“So you’ll really help me get out of this wretched place?” I asked, my eyes pleading with him, and my soul pleading with God.

Dean looked at me with determination in his blue eyes.

“Yes, on one condition,” He breathed, “When we get out, you help me kill that son of a bitch that got you put here in the first place.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions as to how my story could be improved, feel free to leave a comment down below or contact me via my Twitter (@theodoodle).


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